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Living Hollywood Legends

Sparked by watching some old Audrey Hepburn interviews on YouTube yesterday (not only was she beautiful, she was also had an incredibly lovely personality), it struck me that we don't really have stars of her magnitude anymore, and that most of the stars of Hollywood's golden era are now long gone.

Who, from that classic age, is still knocking around?

I'll start with the warring sisters Joan Fontaine & Olivia de Havilland. A feud to end all feuds!

IIRC, Luise Rainer (who won two consecutive Best Across Oscars in the late 30s) is still around. Edit - yep, she's 103 :eek:

Fans of Carrie and Twin Peaks might find this interview with Piper Laurie by turns entertaining and enlightening. Aged 80, she's I think remarkably sprightly in both physical appearance and mental acuity. For context's sake, I'd better note that she enjoyed a moderate spell of Hollywood fame in the 50s

Also, Zsa Zsa Gabor- maybe not a Hollywood "legend", but an iconic face from that time. Along a similar line, Tippi Hedren is still alive and well, and best remembered as Hitchock's muse/ object of his obsession.

Audrey Hepburn would still only have been early 80's now- I wonder how she would have aged from that point on, and whether she'd have made any more films?

Dick Van Dyke is a sprightly 88 years old! And I think its about time he was forgiven for the cockney accent in Mary Poppins! I think he's a fabulous entertainer - he was great in Night at the Museum playing a baddie and I'm not ashamed to say that Diagnosis Murder is one of my (guilty) pleasures!!!

I think she's known more as a British film star than a Hollywood star but she has had success in America - to me Julie Christie is one of the most beautiful and talented actresses. She's still around and working nowadays too, although we don't get to hear much from her because she's a very private person, and that's the way I like it - I've always been drawn celebrities that have a bit of mystery about them.

Two MGM musical stars are still with us, Jane Powell, who will be 84 in April, and Leslie Caron, who will be 82 in July. Jane is married to former child star Dickie Moore, 88 this year.

I feel very fortunate at 75 to have seen all of these stars in their hey day on the big screen, when cinema's was rightly referred to as "Picture Palaces". I am also lucky to have met many of them, including Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Deborah Kerr, Joan Fontaine, and Gloria Swanson, and directors Frank Capra and William Wellman. They were all larger than life and had a Star Quality that is sadly missing in the favourites of today. I would not go to the end of the street to see any of them.